The present invention relates generally to apparatus for separating contaminants from gas-contaminant mixtures and in particular relates to combustion gas-oil contaminant separators for use with internal combustion engines. During the operation of internal combustion engines, combustion gases or blow-by leaking past the piston rings and entering the engine crankcase must be vented to prevent seal damage. Also, engine oil which has mixed with these gases forming an oil vapor mixture requires separating prior to venting to prevent oil carryover into the atmosphere.
In the past, the mixture was routed through a filter element to precipitate and return the oil to the crankcase in a manner similar to that shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,069 granted to R. A. Walker. However, these devices have not been entirely satisfactory since the filter elements soon become saturated and allowed the carryover of oil contaminants into the atmosphere.
Also in the past, multi-baffle systems were used such as those shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 1,306,421 granted to C. F. Feltz which relied on impactive precipitation of contaminant against numerous baffles and in the U.S. Pat. No. 1,915,521 granted to H. C. Edwards in which numerous baffles provided long circuitous paths against gravity coupled with impactive precipitation to cause separation. In both these systems, numerous baffles are required to achieve 100% separation.